Parrots
are a very large group of easily recognized birds, generally restricted
to the tropics around the globe. They are distinct from other types of
birds, and yet there has been much debate about their relationships.
The most recent evidence could be used to group the Psittaciformes into
as few as 3 or 4 families, or split them into as many as a dozen
families. If one chose a three-family approach — the one that I used
through 12 editions of this checklist — South American macaws were in
the same family as tiny pygmy-parrots. The largest macaw is 170 times
heavier and twelve times longer than one of the New Guinea
pygmy-parrots (Collar 1997). This was huge family of about 330 species.
Now, however, following new evidence on lineages within the parrots
[e.g., Schweizer et al. 2011, Joseph et al. 2013, Rheindt et al. 2014],
both Cracraft (2013) and the South American Checklist Committee (2014)
have adopted a four-family solution. I now take that step for these
family pages (more details are in the shaded box below).

The "new" family Psittacidae has all the New World parrots plus two African genera (Psittacus and Poicephalus;
together they might be called "gray parrots"). Together these comprise
48% of the "traditional" parrots. The remaining 52% are now assigned to
the family Psittaculidae, composed of all the Lories, Lovebirds, and all remaining Old World parrots (excepting the two African genera).

The reduced Psittacidae is still a large and interesting lot. It is exemplified by the spectacular Scarlet Macaw of the Neotropics (above) to tiny parrotlets, such as the endangered Golden-tailed Parrotlet (left) on northeastern Brazil (left in a very nice photo by Arthur Grosset).

Traditionally,
all birds in the Order Psittaciformes were placed in a single Parrot
family. Then, Sibley & Ahlquist (1990) and Sibley & Monroe
(1990) raised the Cockatoos to family level distinct from the other
Parrots. The Handbook of the Birds of the World (Collar 1997)
followed the decision. Dickinson (2003) combined them again into a
single family [Psittacidae] noting, in footnotes, that various other
groups (e.g., Kakapo Strigops habroptila of New Zealand, or the hanging-parrots Loriculus
et al.) could also qualify for family status. Christidis & Boles
(2008) reviewed the evidence and split the Psittaciformes into three
families: the Nestoridae [three New Zealand parrots], the Cacatuidae [Cockatoos], and the rest of them here, in the Psitticidae. I followed that arrangement through my 12th ed. family list.

However,
Joseph et al. (2012) divided the Psittaciformes into 6 families:
Strigopidae (for the Kakapo,), Nestoridae (for the Kea and Kaka, Nestor, of New Zealand), Cacatuidae (cockatoos), Psittrichasidae (for Psittrichas and Coracopsis = Mascarinus), Psittacidae (for African Psittacus and Poicephalus
plus all New World parrots), and Psittaculidae (for all remaining Old
World parrots). Cracraft (2013) reduced this to four families:
Strigopidae, Cacatuidae, Psittacidae, and Psittaculidae.

Both
Schweizer et al. (2011) and Rheindt et al. (2014) offered molecular
phylogenies with an analysis of divergence dates. The Rheindt et al.
(2014) project not only compared mtDNA and nuclear DNA evidence, but
added calibrations based on fossil evidence, thus providing independent
evidence to give more confidence to the ages of divergence of lineages.
It now appears that the New Zealand parrots diverged about 42–49 mya.
The next split from the parrot line was the cockatoos, at about 39–45
mya. Then the main lineage of parrots split into two groups — the
African "gray parrots" and all New World parrots in one group, and all
remaining Old World parrots in the other group — at about 34–39 mya.
The difference in these ranges depends upon whether mtDNA or nuclear
DNA is calibrated by the independent fossil evidence. In any event, all
available evidence now suggests that these four main psittacid lineages
are the four oldest evolutionary lineages.

One
could subdivide the Psittaciformes even further, but the age of
divergence evidence does not support adding just the two more families
suggested by Joseph et al. (2013). The New Zealand endemic Kakapo,
proposed as the Strigopidae, diverged from the line of other New
Zealand parrots about 27-29 mya; Rheindt et al. (2014). The study by
Schweizer et al. (2011) did not include Kakapo but did include Psittrichas [the New Guinea endemic Presquet's Parrot and Coracopsis, the Madagascar vasa parrots (now Mascarinus)],
and together that divergence from other Old World parrots was dated at
about 34 mya. This figure may be somewhat high as Schweizer et al.
(2011) show the divergence of the New Zealand parrot line to be at
about 58–59 mya. When constrained by independent fossil evidence in
Rheindt et al. (2014), that divergence shortened to 42–49 mya. Yet,
setting aside the variance in dating divergences, the Schweizer et al.
(2011) shows at least 3, and maybe 4 other divergences from the Old
World parrot line before the divergence of Psittrichas/Coracopsis,
including those involving Eclectus Parrot and allies, the lories, and
the lovebirds. Using the combined evidence of Schweizer et al. (2011)
and Rheindt et al. (2014), if one wished to split all the lineages down
to Kakapo as families, one would end up with about 12 families in the
Psittaciformes.

Some parrots are among the most spectacular birds in the world, including the Hyacinth Macaw
(above) of the Pantanal region of south-central South America. It is
the world's largest parrot at 100 cm (~40") long and 1.7 kg (=3.75 lb)
in weight. Hyacinth Macaws feed on the fruits of a small number of
palms, and is quite local in the wild; fine articles on finding this
wonderful bird in the Brazilian Pantanal are Ridgely (1983) and
Whittingham et al. (1998).

The
New World has but a single tribe in a single subfamily [the Arini], at
least as arranged by Collar (1997), Yet among the approximately 150
species is an astonishing variety in size, shape, and behavior. About
30 species are in the widespread New World genus Amazona;
these include some of the Neotropics commonest parrots and some of the
world's rarest species. "Amazon" parrots are often kept as pets;
indeed, in past centuries explorers coming upon previously undiscovered
native inhabitants often found they kept pet parrots in their villages.
At right Rita is holding a Blue-fronted (or Turquoise-fronted) Amazon
which was a pet of a local family in the Brazilian Pantanal; they had
found it as a baby fallen out of its nest hole and raised it to
adulthood. Such parrots can live 20-30 years. The evening flight of
wild Blue-fronts in the Pantanal is truly an impressive spectacle. A
wild Blue-fronted Parrot is shown (below left) foraging in the canopy of a fruiting tree.

Almost 70 of the New World parrots are called "parakeets" in more than a dozen genera. Genus Pyrrhura contains a number of lovely species in South America, including the endangered El Oro Parakeet P. orcesi of sw Ecuador and the colorful Maroon-bellied Parakeet (below right) of eastern Brazil and northern Argentina.

Monk Parakeet
of dry lowlands in southern South America (left) builds huge communal
stick nests. Small ones may be single-chambered; huge ones have many
chambers. Sometimes unused chambers are used by other species. Monk
Parakeet lives in a temperate climate, and thus has sometimes fared
better as an escapee in the U.S. then more tropical parrots.

The
sort of nest-building by Monk Parakeet is unusual. Most forest parrots
nest in hollow trees or old woodpecker holes (or the occasional cave in
rocky habitat). A few species nest primarily in termite mounds
(termitarias). Pairs of Peach-fronted Parakeet (both
photos below) use huge arboreal termitaria in southern Brazil. These
species have learned to dig their own nest holes into the
(comparatively) soft substrate of the termite nest. The close-up of
Peach-fronted Parakeet (below right) shows apparent feeding on blossoms
of a flowering tree.

An impressive spectacle among some South American parrots is at the unique and local natural "salt licks" (salidas)
that attract parrots early and late in the day to eroded cliff-faces
along some South American rivers. This salt lick (above) — shot from a
moving small boat on the Napo River, e. Ecuador — is full of the large,
very pale-headed & pale-backed Mealy Parrots (with yellow tails); the small dark-green Blue-headed Parrots (with their all-blue heads); and the mid-sized medium-green Yellow-crowned Parrots (a few very similar Orange-winged Parrots were also present, but the photo is a bit too fuzzy to pick them out).

The
molecular evidence suggests that the main lineages of modern parrots
split about 34–39 mya (Schweizer et al. 2011, Rheindt et al. 2014). The
ancestors of today Psittacidae presumable arose on continental
Pangaea which broke up into today's continents 150-140 mya. The
separation between African and South America was not complete and
widened by the South Atlantic Ocean until the late Cretaceous which
ended about 66 mya. The molecular evidence suggest that the New World
parrots remain relatives of two modern genera in Africa. One genus is Psittacus (African Gray Parrot, see below) and the other is Poicephalus. The latter are mid-sized, short-tailed, rather squat parrots that are widely distributed in Africa. Examples include Senegal Parrot of west Africa (above right) and Brown-headed Parrot of southeastern African (below right).

The famous African Gray Parrot
(inset below) of the Congo Basin to west Africa. It is considered the
best "talking" parrot of them all. In truly wild country, African Grays
gather in communal roosts for the evening; up to 10,000 have been
counted in a roost in Gabon (Collar 1997). Just imagine that sound!

Man
has had a long history of association with parrots. Obviously, keeping
parrots as pets is a major hobby. Our fascination with parrots is not
limited to their beauty and unique bill, but a number of species are
good mimics and can be taught to "talk." The illegal trade in wild
parrots has decimated some wonderful species. Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii
became extinct in the wild when the last lonely male living in the wild
in eastern Brazil disappeared in 2000. Fortunately, the trade in wild
macaws is declining, and some populations are rebounding. Great Green Macaw
(pair in flight, left), a Vulnerable species ranging patchily from
Honduras to Ecuador, is now rebounding in eastern Costa Rica. Local
naturalists are paying landowners to leave standing the huge wild
almond (Dipteryx) trees where it nests, and have made poaching unfashionable. The macaws are responding with increased productivity.

Yet
many species remain threatened by this commerce. In one
California-sized area of Bolivia, trappers in 1975-1984 essentially
wiped out all large macaws. Collar (1997) has a fine summary of the
impact on psittacines by illegal smuggling, plus the hope for the
future with strengthened international laws and protocols.

In the Caribbean, four species of Amazon
parrots are making comebacks as the island nations find that parrots
bring in tourists. especially the four species in the Lesser Antilles:
single species on St. Lucia and St. Vincent, and two on Dominica. The
latter two are limited to the primeval forest on Mt. Diablotins, where
the Red-necked Amazon (right) occurs at lower elevations while the rarer Imperial Amazon Amazona imperialis is up higher in the cloud forest. There are perhaps only 150 birds remaining, but the population is no longer in steep decline.

During
our 1999 trip to Brazil, we also visited Rio Cristalino Lodge in the
heart of the Amazon Basin. There we observed one of the newly described
species of parrots — Kawall's or White-faced Amazon A. kawalli
— which was only recognized as a different species in 1989. Along this
rapidly-flowing blackwater stream it replaces Mealy Parrot, which is
otherwise widespread in the steaming Amazon lowlands.

Speaking
of the newly-described Kawall's Parrot reminds me of Stap's (1991) book
about the LSU expeditions by John O'Neill and the late, great Ted
Parker to eastern Peru: A Parrot without a Name: The Search for the Last Unknown Birds on Earth
[cover shown, left]. It tells a fascinating story of avian discovery,
including a new parrotlet "without a name" on a 1985 adventure
[eventually described to science as the Amazonian Parrotlet Nannopsittaca dachilleae (O'Neill et al. 1991)].

Most
parrots pair for life, and form monogamous pair bonds. Courtship
displays often include vocalizations and tail-fanning; the impressive
Red-fan Parrot Deroptyus accipitrinus of the Amazon Basin has an erectile ruff that frames the head with bright red and blue bands.

Throughout
the Neotropical forests, and the savannas and woodlands of Africa,
parrots in family Psittacidae amuse and amaze. Sometimes one is
awe-struck by their beauty amidst a backdrop of jungle. At other times
they give us comic relief — even when the most 'basic' of parrot
prototype, like this Olive-throated Parakeet in Costa Rica (right).

I can do little more here than encourage you to seek them out and to enjoy as harbingers of the wild.

Family book:
Forshaw, Joseph M., and William T. Cooper. 1973. Parrots of the World.
1st ed. Landsdowne Editions, Melbourne, Australia [a compact edition
was published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune, N.J., in 1977; it is
actually the book reviewed here].

These two major family books were spaced essentially 25 years apart,
and are good examples of the evolution of the "family book" in that
period. The Forshaw & Cooper was a huge, oversized monograph well
out of the price range of field birders; I have a "compact" edition
published 4 years later. [Forshaw & Cooper have produced other
tomes on birds of paradise and on kingfishers, the latter a six-volume
$6,000 set.] Because of the size and the price, these books were
actually aimed at book collectors -- not birders. I have never like the
art, layout, or style of these vast pages with their profligate waste
of white areas in the margins. The written information (by Forshaw)
seemed out-of-date for many remote species when it came out, and that
1973 book I have is now almost useless when it comes to current
distributional, status, or even basic biology topics for many species.
[It is acknowledged that there is a new 3rd ed., published 1998, with
much more up-to-date information – I have not scrutinized that text.]
Yet the book did bring together quite a bit about all the parrots of
the world – and had paintings of each – so was a "necessity" for anyone
interested in world birding for many years. I never much liked the
plates which lined up 4-6 species from widely separated regions on a
single branch. One never got any feeling for the uniqueness of any
particular bird, or its habitat. The artwork (by Cooper) was lovely –
feather for feather – but the layout greatly diminished its impact.

The new family book by Juniper & Parr is another in the now
well-known Pica Press style. Plates are bound together in one section;
text (with range maps) in another. The information is, of course, much
more up-to-date than the old Forshaw/Cooper (but still seemed about 5
years behind the times — the status of wild parrots is just changing
too fast!). Yet the information is strictly bound into formal
"sections" like "identification" and "voice" without any opening
paragraph that summarizes just which niche that particular species
fills, and that explains how it is identified. The plates are painted
sometimes in "field guide" styles and sometimes in "mini-Cooper" style,
that is, some five species of macaw from many different areas are lined
up together on the same branch. Because we still lack good field guides
for much of Brazil, Bolivia, central Africa, and other remote places,
these books will fill a "field guide" niche for many observers. At this
they are adequate (or even better than many guides), but as a worldwide
"family book" the emphasis on "field guide" approach diminishes the
impact of each unique bird. I have lots of little quibbles about
layout, approach, and i.d. stuff in this book — so much so that I have
only looked through friends' copies instead of acquiring my own.

Neither book is a "necessity" anymore. Nigel Collar's introductory
text, the spectacular photos, and the fine field guide art in the
parrot section of the Handbook of the Birds of the World
seems superior to me. The text (Collar 1997) was as up-to-date as one
could hope for the time, although all the books still lag behind on new
information about birds like Kawall's Parrot, for example. The "field
guide" art seems preferable to me to the "six species on one branch"
layout, and the details in the written text of the species accounts
appears more accurate than anywhere else. Equally important, the lavish
and wonderful selection of photos finally gives one a real feeling of
the specialness of these birds. There are photos of the last Spix's
Macaw in the wild — along with the Blue-winged Macaw with which it was
paired for some time — incredible powerful photos! If one needs to have
details and art of all the world's parrots in one place, I recommend
Collar (1997) over either of the separately published "family books."